You should listen to Justin Roelofs because he used to be in the band the Anniversary until he fucked the Keyboardist which caused their label to drop them, and they thus broke up1. So right there you guys should be on board because the man’s dick has power… the power to change lives. It’s a story worth telling, so I’ll tell it.
I loved, and still love, the Anniversary. This is largely because they were the band that shook me out of the So Cal pop-punk scene that was taking over circa 2000 and got me looking for bigger and better things. Things involving strong keyboards, powerful hooks, and sweeping textures. I remember going to see the Anniversary at the Worst Venue Everâ„¢ back in 2002. Guitarist Josh Berwanger was following Dimitri from Burning Brides around like a little bitch. When they played the keyboard stopped working so they just walked outside, because, well, that’s all you can do at the Worst Venue Everâ„¢. Good Times. Anyway, after Justin entered the hole of no return and broke up the band, those that weren’t fucking each other split off to form The Only Children2 which is basically the Folkiversary. Justin and the aforementioned hole, keyboardist Adrianne Verhoeven, went off to do other things, but not with each other. Now you may be asking “So the singer fucked the keyboardist, big deal. I fuck keyboardists every night and the band doesn’t break up”. Well, Adrianne Verhoven was then known as Adrianne Pope, as in “wife of Get Up Kids bassist Robert Pope”. Apparently, when you’re fucking The Get Up Kids Bassist’s wife you’re fucking with Death Row (aka Vagrant Records). So Vagrant drops the band like a bad habit and fills the spot with Screaming Teenager Bands. Smooth move, Vagrant.
By most accounts, Justin and Josh were the real force behind the Anniversary, and judging from their respective solo projects, Justin was truly wearing the pants in that family. Guess we should have guessed by the way he was slaying it. His new record, White Flight, has just dropped and it is quite good. Hard to put a tag on it, kind of poppy and psychadelic… it doesn’t really sound much like his past work at all, yet it’s just as good in its own unique way3. The clip for the track Pastora Divine works like video photography. A still life study of the unique and random falling firmly onto the “Video Art” side of the music video fence. Simple and stark yet not boring. Well played.
(PS: Justin is calling himself “White Flight” for this project, making the album self-titled. So go look for White Flight’s new album “White Flight” if you are rummaging through Amoeba.)
- It has been brought to my attention that this is technically a rumor, but it’s on Wikipedia so I’m running with it. I didn’t make this shit up, so don’t blame me.
- They’re alright.
- Seriously, get this CD.
Let me tell you why I hate this video. Jealously. Every time I watch the video I think. Exciting, innovative, pretty damn amazing. They I think, “I could havet done this.” I have a light and a broken fish tank and a bunch of crap I could put into the fish tank. Take three images sizes with the light on and off. Then cut it together and a decent cutting speed. So, yes I hate this video because it doesn’t have my name under the director credit. Damn indi videos.
I’m not quite sure why, but the word I would use to describe this video would be “pretty”
and the apples make me think of love. they’re ever so cutely positioned
BOORRRR-IIIIIINNNNGGG!!!! Not a fan of this video. George put it correctly when he said “I have a light and a broken fish tank and a bunch of crap I could put into the fish tank. Take three images sizes with the light on and off. Then cut it together and a decent cutting speed.” Even if I did think of this, I would never. Only the song and James’ prose shine on. I’ll take backwards credits any day over this, ya heard!
As a photographer, I’m surprised this video bored you. As static as it is, I found myself curious as to what the next item would be. Under the interpretation that these are all significant items from Mr. Roelofs’ life, I found it quite interesting. The picture of the Anniversary was particularly poignant.
To paraphrase Los: What items would you put in your fishtank?
And, for the record, you cannot make this video in 18 minutes. Not even close.
Absolutely horrible.
You are one of the most uninformed and unintelligent writers I have come across.
Your opinion carries as far as you can spit.
You should really, really know the whole story before you talk so much shit, and disrespectfully at that. Fact or Fiction, your little synopsis lacks class and meaning. PS Adrianne Verhoeven was and remains one of the most talented, incredibly voices and personalities in the industry, and anyone who knows anything about music (or has a discerning ear or a brain) can figure that out.
WRONG WRONG WRONG
First, you are an asshole for taking cheap shots at great musicans, such as the Anniversary.
Second, you are dredging up old, tired history, and you didn’t even know the facts anyway.
Third, each member of the Anniversary was amazing, and no one person was more important than another.
Fourth, you totally dissed a wonderful, talented woman, and your crude use of language is totally trashy and stupid.
Fifth, what gives you the right to judge anyone, including music?
Sixth, what the FUCK have you ever done to make you an expert?
Here’s the real deal. The Anniversary was amazing, and yes, some shit happened. They formed when most of the members were 16-17 years old, and grew up together, and then grew apart. It was not pretty in the end. It’s nice that you say you’re a fan, but when you spread rumors, and re-hash past bad vibes, you’re just as guilty…and people get hurt over and over again. How would you like it if someone said what you said in the way you said it about YOUR sister, or best friend, or someone you really cared about and knew got a bad rap? Musicians are not a public commodity-they don’t run for office and ask for the intrusion into their personal lives-maybe that’s inevitable, and reality, but it’s not really fair play. Wikipedia is written by dumbasses, for the most part, and I’ve found many mistakes in basic grammer and language and most of all facts. You don’t have to be a dumbass, also. Why not be innovative and take the high road in your writing, and maybe…FOLLOW THE GOLDEN RULE? What a concept if we all did that. I did get that you were somewhat of a fan, and appreciated the music for its merit, and I totally agree with you about the Vagrant/DC “blankets and sheets” type of stuff, but at the end of the day, everyone’s just trying to have a day, and be the best that they can, and make great music. Write about that instead of the other stuff? Peace.
You know, referring to a woman and the act of love as you have is so beyond totally crude and vulgar that it makes your entire review (and maybe your sad life) meaningless and without credibility. HOLE? FUCKING? ARE YOU RETARDED? If you are ever lucky enough to have any kind of relationship with anyone of any gender(and maybe that’s the problem and explains your obviously misogynistic issues),I hope that you learn something, although any of the above is unlikely. You are pathetic, but I can’t feel sorry for anyone who has refused to evolve and has no respect for anyone, including himself. Find another profession…like…working at the landfill…you have a knack ALREADY. This is from a guy who does have a nice relationship and knows how to act AND WRITE and be civilized, but just in case you can’t understand any other language, dude, fuck you and all that you stand for.
To the haters:
When did I ever imply that The Anniversary or Adrianne or any other member of the Anniversary were not talented musicians? I imply that Justin and Josh were the people really driving the direction of the bands sound which is a statement based on the sound of their respective solo projects. Every member of the band was crucial, no question. Yeah, technically every Beatle was just as important as John Lennon, but come on. The only people I talk trash about are Vagrant records, and that’s only for dropping the Anniversary. Seriously, how do you read this post and then come to the conclusion that I *don’t* like the Anniversary. If you haven’t noticed, we only post shit we like (unless we are explicitly making fun of it like that damn Juicebox video).
As for the story… your’re completly right that I don’t know whether it’s true or not. I got the info from the Wikipedia entry for The Anniversary, so if you can’t handle people discussing it maybe you should make sure it’s not on the internet encyclopedia. I was unaware that commenting on things listed in encyclopedias constitutes “talking shit.” It was also reported on Buddyeahd’s gossip site here, but if you hate the tone of my writing I’ll assume you stay as far away as possible from their tongue-in-cheek posts as well. Honestly, however, I don’t care if it’s true or not because that’s not the point, The story is funny because it’s a ridiculous probably semi-true gossipy rant about a band that nobody today has ever really heard of and probably doesn’t care about. Now, before you get all huffy about that last statement, remember that I’m saying that as a FAN of the Anniversary. I’ve been a fan since the moment I popped “Designing A Nervous Breakdown” into the CD player many years ago. It’s just more fun to write about about silly Rock ‘N Roll antics. If you want some pretenious asshole telling you what albums to go listen to, go read Pitchfork or something. This is a place for people who are tired of music taking itself so seriously.
Since you didn’t seem to pick up on it, the moral of the story was “The Anniversary was good but some shit happened and they broke up, which sucked. But, Justin has put out a solo record that is really good so all is well.” Yes, it was intentionally written in a immature, crude manner; like a gossip rag. If I had written this post cut-and-dry would it not have made it *worse* as it would imply that this is “news” that I’m reporting? Obviously the writing style implies that you should not, under any circumstances, take this seriously. Once again, I’m only reporting the meme that has spread. If the question is “Why did the Anniversary break up?” the answer seems to be the one I’ve outlined, at least as far as anyone knows since nobody is denying it. The story is thus very much related to music. Notice I never commented on the divorce of Adrianne and Robert because even though it’s likely for the same reason it has nothing to do with the band or music and is a personal thing. But when your label drops your band, yes, the reason is fair game for others in the music scene to discuss. My whole point is that it’s Vagrant’s mistake, not the members of the Anniversary.
And what has any music reviewer ever done to make them experts? Like the people at Pitchfork or Spin passed some music IQ test or something. Give me a break.
There’s seems to be two issues here, *what* was written and *how* it was written. As far as what was written, as far as I know nobody inolved has ever denied that the gist of what I have said is true which is why I think it has struck an emotional chord. If I completely made this story up I don’t think anybody would care. But, if it’s all wrong and needs clarification, I offer the floor to anyone who can sort through it. If somebody in a position to actually comment on this story (basically band members or label reps)wants to “set the record straight” (if this is indeed inaccurate) I will post the real deal front and center on this site and personally correct the wikipedia entry (which I did not write) myself.
However, if your problem is not with what was said, but how I said it, I offer no apology. Like I said, it was written in a way that would prevent anybody from taking it seriously. And the day I can’t refer to sexual intercourse as “fucking” is the day the terrorists have won.
“However, if your problem is not with what was said, but how I said it, I offer no apology. Like I said, it was written in a way that would prevent anyody (misspell) from taking it seriously. And the day I can‚Äôt refer to sexual intercourse as ‚Äúfucking‚Äù is the day the terrorists have won.”
Reply: Censorship, which 99.99 percent of intelligent people do not promulgate, is not “permission” to be completely disrespectful and wholly destructive. For example, I’m sure you would agree that the harm done by child pornography and its effects on the children victimized by it outweighs the positive aspects of the First Amendment freedoms allowing it. If you don’t agree, check out the children affected by it. Let’s ponder that for a moment, and try to use common sense when screaming for our civil rights. What about their civil rights? Moving on, As an adjective, the word “fuck” is marginally interesting (but greatly overused), and sometimes applicable, no question. As a verb connoting lovemaking, it is truly stupid and gratuitous. Should it be censored? No, but you should use more of your brain cells and less energy spouting your indignation about “terrorists” relative to the power of the press and your responsibility therein. Enough of politics. Here are the real questions for you, as asked by BW above : Would you like that word used as a noun in relationship to your mother, grandmother, sister, girlfriend, whomever in a public forum? Would you like for them to be referred to as a HOLE, also in public? Are you really that insensitive and desperate for attention? Go back to the drawing board, James, and report what’s important. You really did have a couple of decent points-especially about Vagrant, but by being so totally crude, you lost our respect.
KIP:
1) The first amendment does not give me the right to be destructive, correct. But it damn sure does give me the right to be disrespectful. The ability to show disrespect (especially to governmental authority) is a crucial feature of free speech. I’m not saying I’m thrilled to randomly disrespect individuals, but I am happy that I and everybody else have the right to. What I *can’t* do is be slanderous (or libelous), but, as previously stated, I don’t think what I’ve said, which stems from other sources, is completely untrue. And comparing the story of two people having consensual sex to child pornography? Nonsense.
2) As silly as a semantic analysis of any of the phrases in this post is, here we go.
hole of no return = wife of another man (referring specifically to having sex with another man’s wife). This stems from the colloquial phrase (pardon the language) “you can’t unfuck somebody”.
You are trying to paint me as randomly referring to females as “holes” with no context (while calling me both a misogynist and potentially gay… nice touch). The instance I refer to crucially depends only on one fact: a man had sex with a married woman. Once you have sex with another man’s wife you can’t undo it. I, in an adimittedly over-the-top and crude fashion, point out that the married woman that Justin did this to is in fact Adrianne. Therefore, using the crude slang set up earlier, Adrianne = hole. Justin would also = stick, or whatever. It’s crude slang based on a simplistic analogy. It is not general, but very specific to the situation. And, most importantly, it is ridiculously over-the-top, as in “not to be taken seriously”.
This is far different than what you are implying, that I generally refer to women as “holes”. Or even that I generally refer to Adrianne as a “hole”. This is not the case. This is a very specific instance based on a very specific context that relies on a very specific analogy set-up previously. It’s easy to ignore the context to maximize how “offensive” the phrase appears, but it’s also inaccurate. This can easily be shown because if you replace my “offensive” term with its definition, you end up with this:
“Anyway, after Justin entered the wife of another man and broke up the band, those that weren’t fucking each other split off to form The Only Children which is basically the Folkiversary. Justin and the aforementioned wife, keyboardist Adrianne Verhoeven, went off to do other things, but not with each other.”
Which makes perfect sense and is far from crude or disrespectful (minus “fuck” as a verb, but that’s your deal). You can’t, however, place the phrase “hole” anywhere else in my post and have it make any real sense as it would not apply to the specific analogy that was set-up. Just as calling my mother a “hole” would be an insult without any context. However, if somebody referred to her as a “hole of no return”, implying that she is married and one should probably avoid any attempt at a sexual encounter, it would be very generally crude, but not specifically insulting in any meaningful way.
In the end I used some really crude language to highlight how ridiculous a situation was. I’m perfectly aware that using the term “fucking” so many times is excessive… that was the point. I’m sorry if it was too harsh for you and the tongue-in-cheek tone did not come through (mostly dependent upon the fact that I initially declare I love the band I’m referring to… nobody seems to notice this point.). For the record, I have no disrespect for the members of the Anniversary, and, more importantly, I don’t feel that their sexual affairs, actual or imagined, should affect one’s opinion in this regard. They were a good band; that holds regardless. If some inter-band affair went on, why would I, or anybody, but especially Vagrant Records, let that affect their opinion of them as a band? Vagrant was bending (allegedly) to the whim of their more popular, and thus more profitable, other band The Get-Up Kids, which is weak. To pick the crude mantle back up for a moment, the Anniversary can fuck each other all they want: at the end of the day I’m not going to care and I’m still going to enjoy their music.
3) Since the tone of your replies are *not* purposefully over-the-top (and you could never rightfully do so without being a hypocrite), I would be careful when using phrases such as “retarded” as insults. You can insult me all you want, but you might want to avoid dragging the mentally retarded into the mud as you do it.
BW:
Your reply was the only one that didn’t hypocritically insult me, so you have my respect (even if I don’t have yours) for that. I replied to your specific question above. I can see how if you are looking for “good vibes” a post patterned after an immature celebrity gossip site won’t appeal to you. But, as I said, it was all in jest. We only post things we like. Seriously, who but a fan of the Anniversary would bother detailing that story in 2006? If anything, I’m amazed there are so many strong Anniversary fans around (I have never really met anybody else who digs them), although I have a suspicion some of you are acquaintances of the band first and fans second.
However, looking at the Wikipedia entry for The Anniversary, you have specifically called the roughly 25 people responsible for writing it “dumbasses”. Seems a bit more unduly harsh than any of the things I wrote. As far as I can tell, the entry seems to be a fine summary. The point of Wikipedia is that *anybody* can contribute, so if any of you are somehow an expert on the Anniversary’s dealings it is trivial for you to go change what is written. However, at the very least it is a “Fact” that what I have detailed is a persistent rumor about the Anniversary’s break-up, so there is really not much you could do without trying to flat-out censor information. This is part of the Anniversary’s history, love it or loathe it.
Hugs-and-Kisses.
- James
Holy shit, did this Kip guy just relate your ramblings to Child Pornography. Give me fuckin’ break. You people as a crowd need to get off your “Holier than thou” high horse. The man posts up a video and commends the artistic value of a band grossly over looked and all you folks care about is that he referenced a relationship and dropped the f-bomb? He’s not trying to hurt anyone or judge anyone for that matter. In fact, his use of language makes it almost more real. Instead of dressing up what happened, he was frank about it.
This site isn’t about glossing over the bad to make someone look good. There was a story to be told concerning Roelofs and the 6-degrees of White Flight. James told it in his own way to make it interesting and, heaven forbid, entertaining. He’s not your father trying to explain the birds and the bees with a cute story concerning “when a man and a woman are in love blah blah blah”. If you want a story told to you in a nice, neat, non-opinionated package, I suggest you go watch old reruns of Full House.
James and his good intentions towards the Anniversary are (and should remain) a non-issue. Weird how none of you noticed his first comment in which he says to the video-haters:
“Under the interpretation that these are all significant items from Mr. Roelofs‚Äô life, I found it quite interesting. The picture of the Anniversary was particularly poignant.”
If you have a problem with his writing style, unfortunately, until it’s “Kip’ssohotrightnow” or “BW’ssohotrightnow” or “Chris’sohotrightnow” or “Ellen’ssohotrightnow”, you’re shit outta luck.
That being said, thanks for commenting on this article. Your insightful feedback concerning the song and video are extremely appreciated.
1. “Retarded” Definition:
underdeveloped: not fully developed
(e.g., the retarded growth of the plant)
Mentally retarded was never mentioned. Unevolved was the intent.
2. “Fact” Definition:
the truth or actual existence of something, as opposed to the supposition of something or a belief about something
3. “Defamation” Definition:
attack on somebody’s good name, character, or reputation
I give up. It’s your site. You win. You can say what you want. I don’t want to play or spar anymore, or see any more rationalization of the invasion of people’s private lives or insults towards a beautiful woman’s body parts and psyche in the process. Los, you missed the point that Kip was (I think) making about the First Amendment by making the “typical” response instead of really connecting the dots as to responsible journalism vs. freedom of speech. James, please don’t hurt people if you can help it with your words and website. That’s all. We’re at least all Anniversary fans. We can agree to disagree on everything else. Who knows? There may be a reunion tour someday; we can only hope.
i was suprised to see so many replies to a white flight article since i’ve had a hard time finding info around the net on this new album…unfortunately its all negative bs that has nothing to do with the music itself. i’ve listened to the entire album at least 30 times now. it is just as good or better then it was the first time i heard it. i don’t think anyone could have anticipated the album would sound like this. http://www.jesus.com was a great song but it seems like justin has grown tremendously since that time. while i believe there are certain songs that stand out, every song has moments of greatness. while i don’t believe this is as groundbreaking as say an Outkast album, i believe there is potential for such greatness here. listen to this album with headphones on and dance under the stars by yourself…you’ll realize the positive vibes justin talks about aren’t new agey b.s….this’ll get u high as hell.
anyhoo, my faves are ’solarsphere’, ‘the condition’, ‘timeshaker’, ‘obsidian’, & ‘deathhands’
It is kind of sad that we don’t talk about the music more. Let’s hear it for music.
I love Adrianne Verhoeven and all that she stands for, and her private life is her own. I agree we should talk about the music and NOT any other bullshit…like what might have happened or not. Were you there, James? Sounds like you might have wanted to be. Hey, that’s it, you’re a wanna be…but what you have done is bsically slander and libel, and I hope you get nailed on this sooner than later.
PS Adrianne’s new album is the best thing I’ve heard in years. Beats the shit out of White Flight or anything else out of Vagrant or anywhere.
Talent wins out.